Sarina's POV:
I drank my favorite green tea frappe from Starbucks as I waited with KC on the results that Luis had authenticated.
It had been almost 2 weeks now since my visit with Kiel and I have been nervous even though every piece of evidence I have gathered pointed to Luca Larusso being my father.
Something was still bothering me.
It must be that dream I had yesterday and somehow I could not help but wonder about it.
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I was running through the Palace's hallway until I stopped in front of a door. Curious at why I can't seem to move away from it; I went through it and saw a flight of stairs.
Climbing the stairs slowly, I came upon a room and I opened it.
What greeted me was a woman shrouded by darkness, her belly was already showing signs of being pregnant, lying by a wooden bed.
Her once long black hair was chopped off and she was dressed in a dirty one-piece dress the color of mud. Bruises and cuts marred her arms and legs.
I gasped with horror at what I saw and then a slight glimmer by her leg made me look from another angle.
My hand went to my mouth when I saw that her legs were chained and it was nailed to a post by the base of the bed.
Judging from how she was trembling and crying softly, It was so obvious that she was beaten and imprisoned in this place.
"Jo....." Eva's sobs echoed throughout the room as she held a hand to her stomach protectively.
Just then someone opened the door, I was shocked when a younger Henry and a few others went through me and knelt down in front of the bed, he quickly pulled out a key and unchained her legs.
"W-What are you doi-" Eva's words were interrupted when he suddenly lifted her up.
"Eva. We must move now, Father wants you dead." he said as he motioned one of his men to hold the door open for him as he left the room. "He sent Joram away on a diplomat trip after torturing him for three days after his refusal to renounce his decision to marry you."
I quickly followed to see where they were going.
Somehow I managed to track them by the Palace Gates which was open. A black car with its engine on was waiting for them and Henry had his men open the door.
"No, please don't let me leave without seeing Joram Henry please!" Eva pleaded. "Please, I have to tell him something!"
But I saw Charles force Eva into the car, shaking his head.
"I am sorry Eva but I would rather face Joram's wrath than let you die. Please understand, please live and go back to the Philippines."
I watched with a broken heart when Eva cried but she nodded and thanked Henry before he instructed his men to take her to the airport where his private jet will ensure her safety.
I saw the woman stare one last time at the Palace with sad eyes, It felt my heartbreak for her somehow and I felt myself tearing up as she called out her lover's name.
My dream faded just as the car silently drove off into the night.
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That dream disturbed me more than anything.
At first, I had thought that the woman was my mother but as I received dreams of the past; I realize that she has certain mannerisms my mom does not do and now I wonder she really is because she still seems so familiar.
Somehow finding out that Henry knew the woman who was a dead ringer for my mom was also shocking; I wondered if that might the reason he seems to have softened towards me faster than the other nurses when I was taking care of him.
So many questions....
"Miss Sarina?" Luis' voice brought me back to the present, He was already sitting in front of me and was taking out a folder from his briefcase."The authentication was done. Please see for yourself."
He gave me the folder and I took a deep breath as I opened it.
The document was authenticated, It was not a fake. Relief flooded my face but somehow something still bothers me.
"With your permission, I sent a copy to the Prince so that he can be updated of the situation." at my vacant nod, the red-headed lawyer looked at my face with concern."Are you not happy? With this evidence; you may prove that you are not King Joram's child. This means that you can return back to Leone."
"I-I am but now I am curious, where is the King's lover now? And where is his child? What happened to the baby?"
The lawyer was now well aware of my gift and seems to ponder my questions.
"Well, that is something that Charles had investigated a long time ago." Luis said. "but somehow, after he helped Eva escape back to the Philippines; her trail suddenly went cold. He spent the rest of his life here searching and it was as if Eva and the child vanished into thin air."
"Then I cannot go back yet. Somehow I..." my memories of the chained woman in my dreams struck something in me. "I cannot just leave it at that. Luis, please help me."
My determination somehow made him smile at me and he nodded.
"You really care about others too much. Very well, let us begin." he stood up. "K.C, contact the car because we have a place to go to."
My bodyguard/friend nodded and was already tapping away at her cellphone.
"Where are we going?" I asked curiously as we stood up and walked to the road where the black car was already visible.
"Back to your brother, he just called saying he remembered something important." was the lawyer's reply as we got inside the car.
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Kiel met us at the coffee shop "Dolce", an organic coffee/book library that is gaining popularity among the book lovers in the area that he co-owns with another Italian guy at the Eastwood Area. It also has private meeting rooms with a cozy setting; When we arrived the waitress recognized me and excitedly took us to one of the private rooms where my brother waved at us to take a seat.
"Brother, what is so important that you have to meet us in a private room?" I asked him as I and Luis sat down while KC and another guard kept watch by the doors.
"It is about Mama Eva's sister." Kiel said after a minute of hesitation. "I was only 10 years old when she arrived at our home in Manila, she looked exactly like Mama except her hair was cut into an apple bob style but if her hair were longer; I could have mistaken her for our mother."
"Mother has a sister? Ho-how come no one in the family never spoke of her?" I asked shocked, my parents have never once mentioned that we had an aunt.
Kiel looked uncomfortable and massaged his nape; I could tell he seems to be having a hard time spilling out facts but when I held his hand and pleaded with him using my puppy dog eyes.
"I remember Mama and Papa telling me never to say anything about her, I only broke my promise because of you." he looked at Luis. "You said that the woman the King loved looked like you right? Well you are like a copy of Mama Eva so I had to break my silence only for you, my sister."
"Grazie fratello." I spoke softly in Italian, making him smile back at me as I grabbed his hand and he grasped mine affectionately. "Did she....mention her name?"
"I cannot remember, she seemed so sad when she and Mama were talking that one time. She never visited us after that." Kiel said.
"This makes our search easier, let me conduct an investigation about Eva's family once more. Thank you Mr. Larusso for this information." Luis began making calls to his contact.
I took a deep breath of relief, a few more days of this and we might be able to solve this mystery.
And then I could go back to Leone without any fear of us being separated, In fact, I received a text asking me not to call him or text for a while because he was doing something important. Although I am aware of how busy he was, that made me more anxious because my feelings for him are still so new and I am afraid that cutting of any means of contact might drive us apart.
And yet, I texted back only one word. Because I have to learn to trust him while I am gone.
"Okay."
I wonder what was he doing now? Is he still in his office? Is he doing meetings with the government officials?
Or maybe he is at the bar with Charles picking up women? Or maybe being approached by girls like his ex at some event?
If he does something like cheat, I'll swear I would do something so unlike me....
No. I have to believe he won't see other women while I am gone. Yes, that is something positive...
"Problems Rina?" Kiel's voice made me look at him, My brother's blue eyes were regarding me with concern and I smiled at him.
"Uhm just the usual, nothing too major." I tried to sound calm but knowing my brother as well as I do, he was not buying it.
"Is it about this ah...prince?" he asked, when I kept silent; he smiled. "This man is different from those assholes you dated before? You are really in love with him."
I nodded and flexed my fingers nervously.
"I guess that is my answer eh?" Brotherly frustration colored his face and he looked disturbed. " You know how I always joked about not approving any man you like until I meet him? Well, it seems like I am going to be harsher on this guy if you like him this much."
"Kiel, stop it." I slapped his arm and he kissed my fingers playfully.
Just then Luis chose to interrupt us, his face was smug with what he found out.
"I found something interesting." he smiled. "I had close contacts at the NSO and had the government offices scour every birth, marriage certificates as well as records for Evangeline Anna Ibarra and her sister. What they found were papers and records of two women with identical names and faces, one of these women is your birth mother and the other is also named Evangeline Ibarra but her second name is Rosa."
"So what Kiel said was true, my mother has a sister." I asked feeling hopeful.
"Not just any sister....According to the DNA result conducted by their family, They are twins with different fathers."
"....Is that even possible?" Kiel seems skeptical. "I thought that they were identical twins." he looked at me for a scientific explanation and I cleared my thoughts to explain.
"Identical Twins are usually two eggs fertilized at the same time by the same sperm belonging to one father." I remembered my lessons in reproduction and childbirth" but it's highly possible for twins to have different fathers too, this is a rare but not unheard of condition usually called hetero paternal super fecundation."
"But I remember Mama's sister being identical to her looks. Even if they are twins, then their looks should be different because of their fathers, How can you explain that?" Kiel asked, his expression was getting more confused.
"Well....it isn't far-fetched if their fathers are identical twins." Luis speculated.
Holy...shit..
he showed me two DNA test results dating a few decades ago on his phone. One was my mother and the other was our aunt's.
They showed different DNA matches for the two women but somehow the names of the father's last names were blurred out to protect their identity but then I saw that "Rollo" fathered mother while "Janus" fathered our aunt vaguely.
"My contact managed to grab these records but refuse to impart who had these tests done or he will be out of a job. So why don't we ask your family relatives? My contacts are still putting together the connection on your family tree but it seems as if your family line is a little intriguing than you think."
I and Kiel looked at each other dismayed. We both remembered Mama as a cheerful and gentle person but somehow knowing she had a sister I was unaware of and how she never really like talking about her family made me wonder that this was something out of the ordinary.
What kind of secrets have you taken to your grave Mama?